I seem to have touched a nerve.

I thank Senators for all their contributions and for the opportunity to address the House on the Government's position on this motion on the Bill put forward in the Dáil a few weeks ago. I understand Senator Sherlock had a big involvement in and commitment to it and I welcome that. I certainly welcome the opportunity to have this discussion. The Tánaiste clearly said on behalf of our Department and on behalf of Government that we are committed to introducing a statutory sick pay scheme. That is a strong commitment.…

I heard some of the earlier contributions and will discuss them with my colleagues. I agree with Deputy Harkin that the Bill deals with an important issue. We might have different views on the speed at which we can change but most Members are in favour of bringing in measures in this space, which is a positive move. I thank the Labour Party for leading this debate and giving us the opportunity to discuss it in the House. The Government welcomes the introduction of this important issue for future deliberation in the…

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following: “acknowledges the difficulties faced by the workers affected by the loss of jobs resulting from Covid-19 and, in particular the liquidation of Debenhams Ireland; notes that: — the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste, as well as the relevant Ministers of State have met on a number of occasions, with Debenhams employees and their representatives, to hear directly from them their views and concerns; — in respect of redundancy entitle…

-----the sympathy with the former staff of Debenhams.

Is this the way the Deputy wants to go again?

The Deputy will appreciate that this debate was supposed to take place this morning. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, was scheduled to take the debate and to lead off and I was to close it because there is a cross over between our two Departments. The change in today's business meant that there was a conflict and she could not be here this afternoon. Everyone knows what happened yesterday with the result that today's business is completely changed. I cannot keep explaining to the Deputy that everyone makes an effort…

That is absolutely the case and I can confirm that she had planned to be here at 10 a.m. I spoke to her on this issue quite a lot over recent days and met with her on it and other matters last week. We all share the sympathies. I have met Debenhams workers and their representatives. We have engaged with Mandate and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to try to tease through possible solutions and efforts to try to help them with their campaign. It is a difficult time for them and those who have been out on strike fo…

As we all know with regard to Clerys, there was a substantial and valuable property asset on O'Connell Street that was structured as a separate legal entity to that of the failing retail operations business. The Deputies are, by intimation, making an incorrect comparison between the liquidation of Debenhams, where there is actually no evidence of significant assets still being owned by that company or by a related company, and that of Clerys department store, where an asset was known to exist but shown to be out of…

Regarding the Government's role, we will make sure that the legal rights of the workers are fully vindicated. That means making sure they get at least two weeks' payment per year of service, which is the statutory minimum redundancy payment. If the liquidator in the company cannot pay that, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection will pay for it out of the social insurance fund. Officials have been in contact with the liquidators in that respect and are progressing with that. It also falls to tha…

There are suggestions of levies and such which we are prepared to look at.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the chance to say a few words back on the issues raised, and also to identify some of the things I am working on with our own Department. The commentary in general has been around the supports for business, which is important, but we also must bring the conversation on in the months ahead to new concepts and new ideas for the future of business. We are meeting with businesses and different sectors every day of the week to ask them to explore the options for new types of business, how…

The Deputy had plenty of time but did not want to do it. In our Department we do analyse what is happening in other countries and we do compare it. Our offering is quite competitive compared with every other country. It is fine if the Deputy finds something in another country that she thinks is good and that we should copy here. The Deputy should mention it, bring it to us and we would look at it. We do that. We do try to adapt many of our schemes. The offering here, including the initial supports announced up unti…

I thank both Deputies Nash and Munster for raising this matter and giving me an opportunity to respond on behalf of my Department and its Minister, Deputy Humphreys. I understand the dispute relates to issues, including a collective agreement, among others that have developed over the past couple of months. I emphasise that Ireland's system of industrial relations is essentially voluntary in nature and responsibility for the resolution of industrial disputes between employers and workers rests, in the first instanc…

I reiterate that Ireland's system of industrial relations is voluntary in nature and responsibility for the resolution of industrial relations issues lies ultimately with employers, workers and their respective representatives as appropriate. I could not be any clearer and I said twice in my opening contribution that I expect all sides to engage with the industrial relations process. That is what I have asked for. I believe we are fortunate in Ireland in terms of the industrial relations systems we have developed a…

I am pleased to be appearing in the Seanad as the Minister of State with responsibility for employment affairs and retail businesses to bring forward the Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2020. The €2 billion scheme is a cornerstone of the suite of supports being announced by the Government as part of the July stimulus package. It is focused on SMEs, which is key. I want to be absolutely clear that the aim of the Government is to make money available to SMEs, including producers, farmers, fishers and so on who have…

They do.

I will try to answer as many questions as I can. I will also deal with Committee and Report Stages. I thank Members for their support for the Bill. I sense that there is general support for it, although some have concerns and worries about the ability of the banks to respond to the situation. The discussion is similar to that which we had here two weeks ago. It is a recognition by Members of the importance of supporting businesses and reaching out to them as best as we possibly can. It is important to remind Senato…

It is available, but only as of four weeks ago so it would be hard to judge the full drawdown. My understanding is that it is available. I will check it because the Senator has raised it.

I will check it. I am telling the Senator what it is about and I will check it with the Minister. Senator Higgins asked about the EU recovery plan and what it can be used for. She made a good point about using that funding for public investment and public services. A major part of the response following Covid-19 will be building public capacity and investing in our public services, our public response and our public capital spend as well. It is different from what happened following the previous crash. We had the a…